We live in an industry where features make or break an accounting software solution for your organization. In fact, during the early decision making and evaluation process, the features each solution should be one of your top priorities. Below we've listed 10 features that your accounting software should have.

1. BASIC ACCOUNTING TASKS

This is our most important feature because most small businesses can make do with an accounting software solution that offers basic the functions of accounting. Some of these functions may include, income and expense tracking, financial report generation, client and vendor management, and invoicing. All too frequently we hear of a small business that fails due to their inability to accurately manage their accounting.

2. AUTOMATION

The second most important feature that you should be aware of when evaluating your accounting software solution is automation. Automation is new to the accounting industry and really started to become popular within the past three years. When evaluating your accounting software solution, look to see if it offers things like automatic billing, recurring payments, and past-due notifications as these are generally the biggest uses of automation in accounting.

3. MULTIUSER ACCESS

The bottom line is that your accounting software should offer multi-user access. Most of the time when you purchase accounting software, you have to pay on a seat-by-seat basis. Although it may get a little pricey, generally these solutions are bundled. Even if you don't have an in-house accounting department at your organization you should consider buying multiuser access so that you don't have to do everything on your own.

4. MOBILE ACCESS

The mobile market is booming and we as a society are spending more time on our phones than ever before. That's why it's important that your accounting software solution includes this feature. Having the ability to get a glimpse into the health of your organization's most important accounts from anywhere and at any time is convenient, insightful and helpful.

5. REAL-TIME DATA

If your accounting software solution offers mobile access, then it only makes sense that it should also offer real-time data. Real-time data eliminates the need to manually input financial information and give you the most up-to-date information on your organization's finances.

6. TEMPLATE CREATION

Saving time is a huge priority in today's business environment, that's why your accounting software solution should offer the ability to create both customized and premade templates for your client's quotes and estimates. Bonus points if it can automatically convert those estimates to invoices, making your job easier.

7. SECURITY

Your organization's accounting information is sacred and if your accounting software solution is unable to protect your data then you are at a huge risk. If your data is lost you will lose time, money, trade secrets, and potentially your company. Your accounting software solution should offer native security features that mesh with your own corporate safeguards.

8. CLOUD ARCHITECTURE

Cloud-based accounting software is fairly new to the industry but has made a huge impact. An accounting software solution that operates within the cloud lowers IT costs, reduces risk, and improves productivity. The cloud gives you the flexibility to choose from best-in-class solutions whose main focus is ease of integration.

9. THIRD-PARTY INTEGRATION

It's not uncommon for an organization to utilize multiple different cloud-based accounting software solutions to help manage different accounts (i.e. Accounts Receivable). That's why third-party integration is important. Furthermore, accounting software makes it easier to run your business through integration with data from apps and tools you use the most.

10. INTEROPERABILITY

Your accounting information is so important to your organization that it extends beyond those of are managing its accounts. The data entered into your accounting software solution should be able to be used productively by various business applications in HR, sales, shipping and other departments. This goes hand-in-hand with third-party integration.

When you are evaluating your current or potential accounting software solution it is important that you understand the most important features.

Self-pay is an additional burden for hospitals that are already struggling to reduce costs and increase revenue. Increasing efforts toward collecting past due medical debts on is a necessary process that many hospitals who have limited resources cannot afford to do on their own. Luckily, there are is a plethora of affordable outside services that can aid in this process, many of which are cloud-based.

2018 is upon us and as many accounting businesses prepare for the new year, it's important to understand some of the biggest industry trends. If you take a look back at the accounting trends in 2017, the majority of them were surrounding cloud-based and automated solutions. So, what are some of the changes that we can expect to see in 2018? Have the trends changed much? Well, the short answer is no. But continue reading if you'd like to know the accounting trends for 2018.

Cloud computing and cloud-based solutions aren't the next best thing, they are already here and this movement is largely being driven by end users and tech shops. This has created a micro-management mess for many companies. In a large study, Symantec found that the average number of cloud apps in use in various industries was 926. As more cloud-based solutions become available and utilized, companies need to implement streamlined processes that make the integration and implementation phase easier. Defining this process has now largely fallen in the hands of the CFO largely because of how these solutions effect OpEx and CapEx.

It's not uncommon for organizations to struggle with their accounts receivable management. Although the account helps you realize your revenue, it's hard to fully grasp its many concepts. The bottom line is that improper accounts receivable management will lead to less income. In fact, according to 43% of small businesses have customers who are more than 90 days past due on payments and that will lead to serious losses in their income. According to a study conducted by Atradisu Payment Practices Barometer found that that businesses lose as much as 53 percent of the value of their receivables if they are not paid within 90 days of their due date. It's important that you understand how vital it is for your company to stay on top of its accounts receivable, here are 7 ways to improve your accounts receivable management.

According to Healthcare Finance, healthcare consumers are now responsible for 30% to 35% of their healthcare bill. Since patient payment and collection practices are consistently becoming more complex, deductibles have also continued to rise. Furthermore, collection costs are much higher for patients as compared to payer collection. Both of these factors have lead to the evolution of patients being the primary payer source. Although patients are now the primary payer source, let's face it, they have a lot going on and paying their bill is not a top priority.

Hospitals, pharmacies, and other healthcare providers are constantly searching for new ways to decrease bad debt and maximize their reimbursement. As they continue this process, it's imperative that they can identify which patients are true self-pay and which patients are self-pay after insurance. If they are self-pay after insurance they will have a high-deductible plan and still owe a large sum of money after coverage.

The healthcare industry is in the midst of a huge change with its patient collection programs. This change is causing strides towards designing sophisticated and patient-friendly programs that increase transparency, improve user experience, and minimize pressure from the IRS. These programs help hospitals, pharmacies, and other healthcare providers offer easy-to-understand patient statements and front-end eligibility help. Furthermore, the real-time analytics that these solutions provide make it easier to comprehend entire portfolios from the click of a button. However, if an organization fails to realize this trend they will fall behind. Below we've listed ways that healthcare organizations can survive the changing self-pay patient landscape.

An average of 32% of practices’ revenue stream comes from patient responsibilities. This means that recovering on your self-pay patient balances is more important now than it has ever been in the past and it shows no signs of slowing in importance. In fact, 33% of respondent hospitals, receivables are growing faster than patient revenue. How can organizations, specifically those that work within the pharmaceutical industry, manage their recovery process without losing an excessive amount of employee effort?

In case you didn't know, Millennials are classified as the age group that was born between 1980 and early 2000s. As they have started to enter the workforce, many Millennials have already established successful businesses, and 67% of the generation cohort want to start their own business. But, like most small business owners, Millennials are starting to run into a few major challenges that are inevitable.

Small businesses are the lifeblood of the United States economy because of their ability to innovate their industry landscapes. However, it's not uncommon for small business owners to feel overwhelmed due to the number of problems they have to face on a daily basis. Below we've listed the 3 biggest accounting problems small businesses face.